Srinagar, capital of Jammu and Kashmir is set to get a makeover as part of the Rs 980 crore Srinagar Smart City Project.

Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created under Smart City Mission to implement Srinagar Smart City Project.

SSCL envisions transforming Srinagar into an eco-friendly, resilient and socio-economically vibrant city that celebrates its natural and cultural heritage, creating harmony and opportunities for all. 

City up-gradation would include the development of areas in and around downtown, facelift on the Jhelum riverside, with a bicycle track and other amenities.

Iftikhar Ahmad Kakroo, chief engineer, Srinagar Smart City Limited, said that the city’s Jhelum riverfront will see a phased uplift, making water transport up to the old city an experience for travellers, reports The Hindu. 

A 5-km cycleway would be constructed at Dal Lake from Nishat to Habbak. Over 15 km of cycleway is planned around Lal Chowk.

The majority of the world's historic cities are pedestrian-friendly. With improved infrastructure, Srinagar will compete with the best historical cities in the world. Wi-Fi hotspots and e-rickshaw charging stations have already begun to appear in the city, Kakroo noted.

The Polo View market, founded in 1954 by former Jammu Kashmir prime minister Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, would be the valley's first well-equipped pedestrian-friendly market, constructed specifically to improve tourists' purchasing experience.

It will have a new yet colonial-era aspect by March of next year. The Smart City project is expected to restore the market’s old foreign tourist-friendly charm. 

"We have built a centralised system with exclusive internet access that will not be affected by any internet outage," Kakroo explained. For this purpose, around 200 km of optical fibre cabling have been installed throughout the city.

A facelift is also planned for Shalimar Bagh canal, which the Mughal empress Nur Jahan is thought to have used to access the Shalimar Mughal garden in the seventeenth century.

To ease traffic situation in Srinagar, installation of online parking, internet-enabled lights at junctions, on-camera challans for violators, and a centralised data system is also being planned.